Sept. 9, 2007

Ten C-USA teams posted victories against non-conference foes, and four remain undefeated on the season, following another exciting weekend of women's soccer action. The weekend ended with a bang as seven teams posted shutouts and C-USA outscored its opposition, 23-4.

Rice and UAB are both riding three-match win streaks. UAB junior Nadine Liverpool put a shot in the top, left corner of the net in the 76th minute to score the game-winning goal in the Blazers' 2-1 victory over Vanderbilt in Friday's home opener. Liverpool's goal was assisted by senior Jill Porto. Senior forward Sally Palmer got things started for UAB in the 13th minute of the game by sending a free kick from just outside the box into the back of the net to put the Blazers up, 1-0. A handful of saves by UAB goalkeeper Kate Blankenship to finish out the first half secured the Blazers' 1-0 lead going into halftime. UAB then earned its third shutout of the season by defeating Ole Miss, 1-0, Sunday afternoon, courtesy of freshman Justine Hartigan and her second goal of the season. Hartigan knocked one in the back of the net, off of her own rebound, just 18 seconds into the match for the only score of the day. Hartigan, along with seniors Jenny Meyer, Jill Porto and Sally Palmer, led the Blazers with two shots a piece. Blankenship tallied her third shutout in goal and tallied 12 saves for the weekend.

Rice picked up a pair of wins over intrastate rivals over the weekend. Senior Clory Martin scored one goal and assisted on two others to lead the Owls to a 4-1 victory over visiting Stephen F. Austin Sunday afternoon. Martin set up the Owls' first score of the day with a corner kick in the 10th minute of the contest. Her serve from the left side found freshman Kate Edwards just outside the right side of the keeper's box. All Edwards' needed was a quick shot to find the back the net for a 1-0 lead. Edwards, who scored the game-winning goal on a penalty kick in 1-0 double-overtime victory against TCU just two days before, has now scored goals in three-straight games in her first season of Division I soccer.

Martin gave Rice the lead for good with her third goal of the season in the 19th minute. Senior teammate Samantha Conn saw Martin breaking free from a double team and made long pass down the center of the field. Martin beat the defenders to the ball, then dribbled past a charging SFA keeper before knocking the ball in the goal from inside the 18-yard line. Rice stretched the margin to 3-1 with its third goal of the first half. In the 29th minute, junior Caitlin Robbins stole the ball away from the Ladyjack backline and needed only a step or two to break free. The Houston native then quickly blasted away at a shot from 30 yards out. The unassisted score was the 18th goal of her Rice career. The Owls continued to apply the offensive pressure and added a final goal in the second half. In the 61st minute the ball appeared to be headed out of bounds on the right side of the SFA goal. Martin, however, corralled the ball near the endline, turned and served a high pass inside the keeper's box. Sophomore Shelley Wong read the play and sprinted in on the ball from 10 yards out. She needed just a deflection to score from close range before the Ladyjacks could adjust. The goal was Wong's first of 2007.

SMU downed host Kansas, 2-0, as the Mustangs struck early by scoring the first goal of the game at 27:01, when freshman Lauren Shepherd fed a pass down the far sideline to senior Kimber Bailey who was waiting in the box. The Jayhawks took 10 shots in the first period, but were unable to score as SMU junior goalkeeper Ashley Gunter had eight saves in the game. In the second period, neither team allowed the other to score. The Jayhawks took six shots, but Gunter denied their advances. In the 90th minute, the Mustangs connected on their third shot of the period, an unassisted goal for freshman Kristen Medeiros. Kansas' goalkeeper misplayed the ball, allowing the insurance goal for SMU.

Houston picked up two wins as the Cougars opening weekend was delayed due to severe weather last week. A goal by Islara Rodriguez in the 59th minute propelled UH to a 1-0 win over Sam Houston State in the Cougars' season opener Friday night. Rodriguez's goal, the first of her career, came off a one-versus-one encounter with the Bearkat goalkeeper. Rodriguez dribbled her way through the defense, faking out three players before knocking the ball into the left side of the net. Rodriguez finished with a match-high seven shots. Shelby Scott played the full 90 minutes in net for Houston and made two saves.

On Sunday the Cougars tallied only six shots, but came away with a 2-1 road win against Louisiana Lafayette. Houston got goals from transfer Christine Nieva and Lauri Byrne and Scott made nine saves in net. After a scoreless 55:58, Nieva knocked home a goal off a Jessica Rathweg corner kick to give UH a 1-0 lead. The Ragin Cajuns answered 20 seconds later to knot things at 1-1. UH didn¹t take long to respond as Byrne tallied her first-career goal at the 58:46 mark when she chipped the ball over the goalkeeper. Rodriguez assisted on that goal closing out all the scoring for the game in a three-minute span. Scott earned her second-straight win in goal after facing 29 shots, 10 of which were on goal. She needs six wins to tie UH¹s all-time goalkeeper wins record, held by Michelle Denomme¹, with 17 victories. The Cougars moved to 2-0 for the second-straight year. Head coach Susan Bush became the first coach in UH soccer history to win her first two matches.

UCF posted a pair of wins, claimed a tournament title (based on goal differential) and placed five players on the all-tournament team at the UCF Invitational. The Knights defeated UNLV, 2-1, on Friday and shutout UC Davis, 3-0, on Sunday. UCF scored three goals in a span of 4:11 during the first half so the Knights had a comfortable lead before the last 13:17 of the match was wiped out by rain. Senior Kate Begley got on the scoreboard for the first time in her career, while sophomore Yvonne George also notched her first goal as a Knight. George capped off her weekend by being named the UCF Invitational Tournament MVP. Sophomore Courtney Whidden earned the Offensive MVP award, and all three players were joined by sophomore Becca Thomas and senior Kelsey Kravec on the UCF Invitational All-Tournament Team.

George scored in the 15th minute off a pass from freshman Amanda Martorana. UCF wasted little time in adding some insurance. Less than two minutes after the first goal, Whidden slipped past the defense and hit the top right corner from the left side for her third goal of the season. And only two minutes after the Knights took a 2-0 advantage, Begley tipped in a sharp-angle shot that Thomas set up and the ball somehow found the right-side of the net for the final 3-0 margin. Both programs then had to suffer through a lengthy weather delay with less than 20 minutes remaining. They managed to play about four more minutes before rain and lightning forced officials to end the game early. Manis' effort in net enabled her to post her sixth shutout in a Black and Gold uniform, and the first of the 2007 campaign. UCF finished by outshooting UC Davis 19-9 with 14 of those shots coming in the first half.

East Carolina picked up a pair of shutouts for the weekend. A pair of goals from Madison Keller led the Pirates to a 3-0 victory over Furman Sunday afternoon in a rain soaked contest. The game was delayed 30 minutes due to weather from Tropical Storm Gabrielle. Keller scored her first goal of the season off a corner kick from Tricia Tufts. She headed the ball in and over the head of the Furman keeper with 10:39 to play in the opening half. Her second goal came with 16 minutes to play in the rain soaked game, as she connected on a penalty kick, giving ECU the 2-0 lead. Blair Heffner tallied her third goal of the season as she scored the third and final goal of the afternoon off a pass from Amanda Broz with less than five minutes to play in the contest. ECU tallied 12 shots on the day while holding the Paladins to just three. Pirate keeper Amber Campbell tallied her second shutout of the year and the 13th of her career. Amy Szilard scored off a free kick from Nicole Moore with two minutes remaining in the first overtime to lift East Carolina to a 1-0 victory over Old Dominion Friday.

Colorado College also went 2-0 for the weekend. Sophomore Emily Beans seemed to be all over the field on Sunday, scoring the game-winning goal and playing an instrumental role in Tiffany Brown's insurance tally to fuel the Tigers; 2-0 victory over Davidson. Beans snapped a scoreless tie late in the first half when she got the ball in the left midfield area, faked a pass to the outside, then cut to the middle and split the Davidson defense before racing in alone on the keeper to score her second goal of the season. In the 77th minute, Beans was fouled in the box while trying to get off a shot. Brown converted on the ensuing penalty kick to wrap up the scoring for Colorado College, which outshot the visitors from North Carolina by a 17-5 margin overall. For the second consecutive match, CC's Geneva Sills needed to make just one save to record the shutout. The junior keeper now has 15 for her career. The Tigers extended their home-field undefeated streak to 12 games (11-0-1) dating back to a 1-0 overtime loss to University of the Pacific on Sept. 1, 2006. Brown couldn¹t have picked a better time to strike for her first goal at Colorado College as she one-touched a serve from Alexa Bannerman, past the McNeese State keeper in the 68th minute, lifting the Tigers to a 1-0 victory Friday.

UTEP sophomore Anoop Josan scored on a penalty kick in the 66th minute to break a scoreless tie and the defense did the rest as the Miners knocked off Portland State, 2-0, to kick off the 10th-annual Miner Classic Friday evening. Jessica Salvi made six saves on the night to record her first shutout of the 2007 campaign, while Jami Tullius registered her third goal on the year to give the Miners some much needed breathing room with eight minutes to play. It was the 13th straight home win for the Miners, but it was an unlucky number as UTEP dropped a 2-1 decision to Weber State in Sunday's final. Sophomore Tameka Sumter scored her conference-best sixth goal of the season, but it was not enough for the victory. The Miners still have an impressive 44-6 mark in the Sun City.

Marshall defeated St. Peter's College, 4-0, in the Herd's home opener on Sunday at Sam Hood Field. Sophomore forward Molly Snead led the Herd with two goals on three shots. Snead recorded her first goal in the12th minute knocking an assist from teammate Emma Harrison into the far right corner of the net. One minute later, Snead tallied her second goal off a through ball from Kassie Hollman. Sophomore forward Julia Axelsson closed out the first period with a goal in the 37th minute. Axelsson put the ball in the net after a deflected save from the Peahen's goalkeeper. Freshmen forward Missy Gordon assisted on the play with the initial shot. In the 50th minute, senior defender Sue Ahrens headed the Herd's final goal with an assist off a throw-in from Hollman. The Herd out shot the Peahens, 26-1, placing 13 shots on goal. The Herd fell to Delaware, 2-0, on Friday despite holding the Fightin' Blue Hens scoreless in the first half. Gordon led the Herd with two shots, with one on goal.

Tulsa picked up its first win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Western Kentucky on Sunday afternoon in the Middle Tennessee Classic in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Sophomore forward Jennifer Kacergis recorded the lone goal in the contest and her first goal this season after picking up a pass from 35 yards out, beating the defender and drilling her shot from 20-yards out into the back of the net in the 12th minute. Junior goalkeeper Kendall Harclerode earned her first shutout of her career, as she tallied seven saves in the contest for 24 this season. Senior forward Lauren Gilliland knocked in the lone goal for TU in a 3-1 loss to host Middle Tennessee Friday night. Harclerode notched six saves in that match.

Freshman forwards Melissa Smith and Vendula Strnadova received All-Tournament accolades, but Memphis could not pick up a win at the Long's Electronic Samford Classic in Birmingham, Ala. The Tigers lost a 7- decision to LSU and were shutout by host Samford, 1-0, although Memphis had 14 shots in the game compared to Samford's six shots. The Tigers rallied for a comeback, but a shot late in the game by junior Emiko Schwab went wide right and Memphis was not able to score.

Southern Miss was defeated, 4-0, in its 2007 home opener against Ole Miss Sunday. Junior forward Sarah McFadden produced several scoring opportunities, including a shot that hit the top post on the left side of the goal. McFadden led the squad with five shots and one on goal.